


Daytime Fireworks

by Balepnar



Category: Disco Elysium (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:15:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24522952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Balepnar/pseuds/Balepnar
Summary: YOU- You reach out and slide your hand under the lieutenant's vest, feeling the skin underneath: it begins to become less firm with age but still delicate. "Would you still choose to be a cop?"KIM KITSURAGI- He ruffles your half-dried hair, scattering the tangled strands so that the moisture evaporates more quickly. "Maybe I will. If I hadn't been born in Revachol, but in Oranje or Samara, I might have enlisted."
Relationships: Harry Du Bois/Kim Kitsuragi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38





	Daytime Fireworks

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [白昼烟火](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25298830) by [Balepnar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Balepnar/pseuds/Balepnar). 



> This is a translation of my fic in Chinese, so some of the words may not be so accurate...please forgive its roughness.

**[PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT]** This body pales in comparison to yours. Weak biceps, enabling you to pin him down by just one hand; too little fat to take a strong hit, making its owner far from adequate as a cop.

 **[ESPRIT DE CORPS]** The lieutenant joined RCM with distinguishing performance in combat skills and firsts aids, receiving top rating in all the categories expect shooting due to the visual impairment. For more than two decades, he has kept his professional skills at a high level by regular training and strict diet.

 **YOU-** You tighten the arms around the lieutenant's waist, feeling the thin abdominal muscles slide.

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** Leaning into your arms, he rests his head on the fossa of your right neck, spine pressing against your chest and belly. He props his legs up on the sheets, exposing his lean knees.

 **YOU-** You feel the heat from the lieutenant, and a thin sheen of sweat appears from where your skin touch. You're always the one with the higher body temperature. You lean against the wooden headboard, a fluffy pillow cushioned at the back to support the weight of the two grown men. You stretch your legs toward the end of the bed, feet unconsciously swinging back and forth, gently rubbing against the sheets.

 **[PERCEPTION]** The cotton sheets are dry and soft, which is still a new experience to you: the touch of fabric without being stained by alcohol or vomit.

 **[PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT]** He has been leaning on you for half an hour. Why should the charming body attracting countless Revachol women be allowed to serve him?

 **[INLAND EMPIRE]** Before being destroyed by booze and pills, you didn't look too different from the badge photo, when you were attractive to some young ladies in Revachol. But time has changed. Now you should be thankful that your physical fitness as a gym teacher kept you from falling apart.

 **[LOGIC]** In a few minutes your back will be sweating and the lieutenant will not like your smell. My suggestion is to open the window.

 **[VOLITION]** No, heat and sweat are still tolerable. Getting up to open the window will destroy the atmosphere. Even if you are officially *life partners*, such intimate moment is still valuable.

 **[EMPATHY]** And the lieutenant is reading. This exactly the time when drunker men in Jamrock wandering on the streets. Opening the window will disturb him **.**

 **[ESPRIT DE CORPS]** Jean will be happy to remind you that you were one of those alcoholics.

 **YOU-** You carefully tense your waist, keeping it at a range that won't influence the lieutenant, and reach up to pull the pillow out of your back. You look over his shoulder to read the magazine page _: Coupris Kineema Modification: Spinners and Shock Absorber Upgrade._

 **[ENCYCLOPAEDIA]** The shock absorbers absorb the vibration caused by the wheels encountering uneven surfaces for a comfortable ride. And the spinner modifications are mainly for appearance enhancement.

 **[DRAMA]** Look, his doesn’t even pay attention to you! Can the *superstar cop* rival that lifeless metallic object? Now is time to win his heart back. Do say something!

 **YOU-** “Kim, how do you stay awake at regular meetings? I was particularly sleepy after lunch and I found a position with my back to Pryce, and when I almost fell asleep Jean suddenly kicked me.”

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** The lieutenant lifts his head from your shoulder, folds the corner of the page as a marker, closes the magazine and places it on the nightstand.

 **YOU-** A second later you start to miss his warmth. You reach out and take him back in your arms, chin rubbing against his hair.

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** “Strick carbohydrate control is the key, and I would choose not to consume carbohydrate if heavy workload is foreseen. Sleepiness is a normal withdrawal reaction to you, but improving diet can also be good for you.”

 **YOU-** You grunt, hoping the lieutenant thinks you're considering the idea rather than refusing.

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** “As well as moderate exercise. If you want to lose weight, just keep your metabolism at a level slightly above your calorie intake.”

 **YOU-** “I think it's respectable, Kim, to be in control of your body and mind so accurately.”

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** "Harry, I was not fortunate enough to be born with the physique of a gym teacher. It's just an efficient way to survive."

 **[VISUAL CALCULUS]** There is a timetable on the title page of the lieutenant's blue notebook, recording time blocking as well as calories and nicotine intake.

 **YOU-** “Kim, I sometimes suspect you're not human. You could be an android.”

 **[ENCYCLOPAEDIA]** On the eve of the Revolution, Oranje had secretly developed military androids to reduce the casualty rate of soldiers on the front lines. The notorious Oranjese special force outsourced the work to a private military contractor, and the project was eventually suspended due to bribery and corruption. The information related to it was sealed and destroyed.

 **[LOGIC]** There are no reliable sources to prove this, as you probably read that on in the lieutenant's sci-fi magazine.

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** “ Are you saying that when I told you I'd see you tomorrow in Martinaise, I was actually heading back to the room to recharge myself, so that I can initiate the program and say hello at your room door at 7am?”

 **YOU-** You bury your face in the crook of his neck to hide your laughter, yet your shaking body resonates with the lieutenant's.

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** He twists around to avoid the rubbing of your face, wraps one hand around your neck and comes to the back of your head, stroking your damp hair. “

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** “Your beard is itchy.”

 **YOU-** “But you like it.”

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** “I do like it, which makes you look like a hobo Dick Mullen.”

 **YOU-** “Thanks, I'll ask for your opinion before I shave next time. So, Lieutenant Kitsuragi as an android. If I meet you in the Whirling, I would like to buy you a drink and invite you to my room to——"

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** “Lubricate me with machine oil?”

 **YOU-** You finally let out your laughter.

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** The lieutenant blinks, wiping away your tears. “Android should be asexual, so you'll have to think again about what to do when we get back to your room.”

 **YOU-** "I'll ask you to go out on the balcony and smoke a cigarette, and you say thanks but no, smoking will speed up your oxidization."

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** “Then my shell could be bulletproof ceramic instead of metal, so you can generously share a cigarette with me. Make sure it is Astra, not Tioumoutiri.”

 **YOU-** "Any version of Kim Kitsuragi will prefer Astra.”

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** “Definitely.” The lieutenant moves away your arm around his waist and gets up to push the window half open.

 **YOU-** A cool breeze slides from your neckline into your back, bringing away the heat that almost builds up into sweat droplets.

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** The lieutenant strides back to you — when you can’t stop noticing his toned, lean legs—and sits side by side with you. "I was thinking that being an android is a good idea, for it might be our only chance to achieve racial equality. Irrespective of color or gender, no store would sell something like a 'yellow-skinned android mug'."

 **[ESPRIT DE CORPS]** In accordance with the RCM's standard promotion rules, Kim Kitsuragi should have entered the Major Crimes Unit rather than the Juvenile at age 31, as he wished. But the RCM never minds showing how the mechanism of "peer review" makes these rules null and void, and you never know what would be taken into consideration: bribery, drug abuse, absenteeism, or perhaps just because of the color of your skin.

 **YOU-** You reach out and slide your hand under the lieutenant's vest, feeling the skin underneath: it begins to become less firm with age but still delicate. "Would you still choose to be a cop?"

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** He ruffles your half-dried hair, scattering the tangled strands so that the moisture evaporates more quickly. "Maybe I will. If I hadn't been born in Revachol, but in Oranje or Samara, I might have enlisted."

 **[LOGIC]** “Enlist” is not the proper verb. Androids are assigned to specific positions based on their configuration as soon as they leave the factory, which will not be altered by free will.

 **YOU-** You grab his wrist and drop a light kiss on the back of his hand. "Air Force."

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** The lieutenant lowers his eyes — his eyelashes are very slender, not as curvy as yours. "Yes, imagine I can withstand a dozen times of the gravity without experiencing syncope or high-altitude hypoxia — vision is just a threshold, not the critical advantage." He took off his glasses and clasped them in his hands, exhaling an almost unheard sigh.

 **YOU-** “Then you are not Kim Kitsuragi. You are an AF500 military android, number KK-326.”

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** “Sounds nice. What does 326 stand for?”

 **YOU-** “The date we met in Martinaise **.”**

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** "You remember? I thought we were too old to celebrate the anniversary."

 **YOU-** You turn around and cup his cheek, your lips can’t help pressing against his forehead. "I do remember."

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** He closes his eyes and indulges in your touch, the wrinkles between his brows gradually softening.

 **[INLAND EMPIRE]** The AF500 android, numbered KK-326, stands under the wing of the jet, with two hundred of his companions evenly distributed on the deck of the aerostatic aircraft. When the bell rings, he leaps into the cabin with a force surpassing human limits, falling into the titanium cockpit with precision, pointers turning and dashboards lighting up in order. The mechanical heart beneath the ceramic skin accelerates as its owner thrilled by joining the battle for the first time.

 **YOU-** The rain-soaked ground is muddy and the soles of your shoes are stained with a mixture of sewage and food scraps. The roar above the highway obscures the sound of the aerostatic aircraft passing, which casts only a silent shadow. You look up to see when the next rain will fall and find a silver jet sliding out of the stern. You stand still and watch it disappear into the clouds. You shake your head and continue on your way, imagining the jet sweeping across the blue sky of Ozonne.

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** “Kim, I saw you fly over Jamrock.”

 **KIM KITSURAGI-** Over your shoulder the lieutenant looks into the night sky, which as always obscured by polluted haze. His gaze is distant and determined.

 **[SHIVERS]** You saw the jet leave contrails and disappear into the stratosphere, but could not have predicted that it had been hit by a chasing incendiary before it reached its destination. Its silver-orange tail reflecting the sunlight, when it bloomed as fireworks in daylight.

 **[ESPRIT DE CORPS]** This is the fate Kim Kitsuragi willing to choose in the alternative world.

**Author's Note:**

> I choose the title from the award-winning film “Black Coal, Thin Ice” (in Chinese version it's "Daytime Firework")，which has a cold, sad yet romantic tone that I think quite match the atmosphere of Revachol. I've been worrying if I can translate the metaphor without losing its flavour...  
> Thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are always welcome <3


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